Guild Wars 2

So it looks like after the expansion you no longer get skill point for leveling up. Instead you get mastery points… So far so good…

“This means characters that have reached level 80 will no longer gain skill points through leveling. Skill points will be added as rewards across high-level content to offset this change.”

Do you think that this will decrease the supply of the superior siege on the market?

Do you think that alt characters will be used for crafting siege?

What are your thoughts?

Nice vid and nice bursts!

Normally I would mention that bursting uplevelled-AFK-zerkers-etc… and make a video about it is silly but in your former vids you already proved you can play absolutely differently. You also let us know that this is (hopefully not) your last video and you just made a best-of-burst episode.

Criticism: you use text comments in some parts of your video and don’t do the same in others. I know those are from your former episodes but if you’d use commenting or fun texts everywhere the video would look more consistent.

+1 from me

p.s.: Guardians need more boonstripping (stability takes the kitten sometimes)

Happy Guardin’!

Just a few more hints:

1, Frostbow is OP in basically every weapon set. #4 hits like a truck, #5 is the longest stun in the game and the weapon lets you stay ranged or stack vulnerability or heal you or your allies. Lightning Flash is also a very good Utility. Improves your movement, survivability and your damage. Hint: start practising your LF combos! LF+Burning Speed or Phoenix can do nice burst or Meteor+LF makes a 2100 range nuke.

Signet of Air is very good but a D/D ele is very fast with Zephyr’s Boon traited, two auras, RideTheLightning, LightningFlash and Elemental Attunement. Sad: you need 6 trait points to get EAttunement. But if you have Zephyr’s Boon you are quick enough to match the permanent +25% movement without SignetOfAir.

2, every weapon set is good on an ele. If you like the classic AoE wizard stick to the staff. If you prefer the “battlemage” use D/D or D/F. All of them are viable.

3, I hate the charr or the norns while doing JP or even just running around… But it’s only personal preference.

Rotation for D/D:
RideTheLightning, Updraft, Shocking Aura
BurningSpeed (LF if needed), Drake’s Breath, (land a Fire Grab if you can), RingOfFire
dodge in earth, Earthquake, Churning Earth (LF if needed)
Air Autoattack ‘till Fire is off-CD again then Drake’s Breath again.

(you gonna love your Naga while playing Ele)

This combo can melt faces. And you still have your Frostbow or ArcaneShield to put out even more damage and your Water attunement for staying alive…

Speed and Traveller are selfish rune sets. They give you constant speed with zero support and offensive stats.

In a group where even little source of swiftness is available the Pack outshines the Speed and the Traveller.

Eh I put here a 200 words long answer and the forum just ate it…

Pack is good…

Hi there!

try this out:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVQQNAW5dl8ApVo1CxdI8DNRCRldR8fBI2fQLUCXFAA-TlSDABOcQAMUJIMq/klSKqUi8kyBo2fAgLEgEPBgU0NQKAmUGB-w

2000 power
3000 armour
20k + HP
dodge roll heals 1000
absolute res: 523
symbols: 180 per sec

but…

you can scrap the half of this…

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVQQJAWRl8ApVo1CxdI8DNRCRldR8fBI2fQLUCXFAA-TlyGwAAuAA4VCKS9nlKpMqEJoyhDHCAX7PIRXAhnAApAYSZE-w

With GS you can hit like a truck with 2150 power (no stacks and might) decent armor: 2812+150
16800 HP + guard stacks.
dodge still heals for 950…
symbols: 172 heal
absolute res: 504

:D

They are just trying us if we accept the low cooldown abilities on these weapons.
No, we won’t.

Every other profession had the same “whatthekittenareyoutalkingabout” -5% CD or -0.5sec casting time spells and utilities…

Have fun!

I’m getting closer and closer to these titles…

I will give this account to my grandson (note: my son/daughter isn’t even born) and finally my account would have a wvw title… So it’s a matter of patience.

But thumbs up ANET you made titles where the only thing you have to do is facerolling some AI coordinated byte-body enemy…

I think a 100000 Great Jungle Wurm Kill for a title would be sufficient…

Have a nice day!

Playing WvW on the borderlands is a kind of sandbox. We don’t need huge changes but even the smallest adjustment can alter the game experience. I want more “events” like the Sneak Attack… Make more ANET!

Like:
Frozen Dollies: dolyaks cannot move without swiftness or a fire field layed under them.
Fog of War: ranged siege equipment has 50% reduced range and damage.
The living wood: gates have retaliation.
Revenge of the dolyak: Dolyaks give 5 stack of might and fury to allies in 1200 radius.
Diplomacy: every mercenary camp now adds a Siegerazor to their forces.
Marker’s Trap: activating this trap shows an icon on the minimap with the number of the enemies triggering it for 30 seconds.

And so on… These are little things but they can contribute to the WvW feeling very well… ANET does not even have to balance it since every event would last like 2 weeks or so. I think I don’t need big changes every 6 month… but some spice would be awesome…

My 2 coppers

and necro greatsword /confirmed

Thaddeus pretty much summarised it!

But I would like to link another build I currently work on… (00266) It’s not mine of course and it isn’t new either…

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVQQJAWSl8ApVoNDxXI8DNBFBldHS/6xOBX4BXFAA-TVSDABOcIAQUJIMq/QlSosU+wz+DAchAk4JAkiuCSBwkyI-w

Utility-bot guardian with nice group healing abilities and some CC potential….

Low damage due to low crit chance and ferocity.
Excellent survivability.
Nice healing: dodge: 1000, symbol: 180/sec, VoR: 500/3sec, Empower: 2400.
Group support with protection, stability, regen, condi cleanse and might.

I don’t really mind these nerfs. I can live with the battle sigil and the might changes. In a prehistoric MMO I survived much harder nerfs without complaining…

But I don’t get the Drake’s Breath nerf! D/D ele has access to only two damaging conditions and these are almost impossible to “burst” on a foe at the same time.

Sure Burn, Poison and Bleed can hurt if stacked quickly but it’s not easy to pull out! I understand that 12 sec Burn can ruin anybody’s day but hey, that’s why the mentioned “anybody” runs with condicleanse-reduction…

xDudisx:

OK, we get your point! You like the full Cele build we don’t. If you have fun with it do it!

You must be a really good D/D cele ele I wont ever be (no sarcasm here I mean it).

What I don’t like in full celestial that the extra stats you get go to waste as you change attunement.

Let me explain please:
If you are in Air or Water your Condition Damage does nothing. You can have Doom sigil but it scales poorly. So your extra CondiDamage stat is only available 50% of the time (I know you are not forced to change attunement that often…)
If you are in Earth, Air or Fire you won’t get much benefit of your HealingPower. You have a trait what can proc Regen and your Healing Signet’s passive… That’s all!

Meanwhile the “non-cele” stats (Power-Precision-Ferocity-Vitality-Toughness) boost your damage and survivability in every attunement.

Long story short: can we agree that we don’t agree?

Crius:

what do you think about a 00266 healer build with Staff/Hammer, healing symols, condi-cleanse and stability on virtue. Gear: soldiers + clerics (around 800 healing power)

only in wvw zerg OFC…

in small scale I use medi GS+Hammer 00644 (AHEM)

just asking…

Hamster..

sorry but I think coglin is right… The ranger has a spot .. nuking down low HP targets and pressuring damage dealer classes like elementalists and necromancers… Same as a thief does…

If an enemy ele has no time to meteor/healing rain because of constant rapid fire it’s a gain to the team…

And a ranger can protect the backline against thiefs/mesmers exceptionally well. (knockback, fear, traps).. A trapmaster axe ranger (with Sic’em) can distract any mesmers or thief long enough to let the elementalist escape without spending loads of time to defending…

I’m not saying the Ranger is the new Meta… I say it has a niche where it is useful!

I understand what xDudisx says and I accept that s/he likes it… I still say it is not really optimal. A healthy mix of soldiers/knights/berserker/celestial is the way to go…

(just my 2 cents…)

In WvW the Full celestial gear is almost never a good idea. It hit’s like a wet noodle, has no HP, low armour. The extra condition damage usually goes to waste because every enemy has plenty of condi removal and/or -36-40% condition duration food. Healing power sounds good on paper but the very second you get out of Water you are as good as dead.

Soldiers + celestial for staff Zerg. I prefer zerker instead of celestial here. (even full zerker can work)
Something + celestial for D/D roaming/havoking. Something can be knight/valkyrie/soldier.

You NEED vitality and toughness. Or range.

EDIT:
Staff zerg support: I use soldier armour with Pack runes, berserker weapon and one knight ring, the rest are berserkers too.
D/D roamer: Same, soldiers armour with Pack runes and full celestial accessories. My daggers are knights.

+1 many times!

Thank you very much!

This is strange… I just build my first heal guardian tonight. Our 15 large party headed to some BLs in T1 EU. It has some insane amount of group support including constant healing and some burst heals too.

The build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVAQNAW5dl8AXgaGmCXLsFyV4KE/wf4EJEV2zw/FgY/BtQJcVAA-TlSDwAOOCA52fAm6PZV+pQJ4gDEAgHAgkLCQcNEp0NQKAmUGB-w

This is likely far from the final version. I’m not sure I need this large healing power amount. So next week I’m going to try something else like mixing in some more Knights/Soldier. Also I’m not really happy with the Focus skills but I needed at least one blast finisher. After the patch I definitely give the Shield a go. I found the mace pretty good.

I might swap out the Hold The Line for something else like Wall of Reflection, Merciful Intervention or Hollowed Ground.

Hi there!

http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Elementalist_-_Staff_Backline

This is the traditional staff bunker. Purpose: defensive zerg support via water fields and condition cleanse. Has some AoE bomb potential in Fire.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fFEQFAWlMMowhNOwzB8rNQDgRaIIuAEAihlzCNhpAA-TFSBABQqEEH1f4SZVXKVIa/BU0BswkittenHAAZAYGDA-w

This is the offensive support build. If focuses on CC and dealing massive damage via Lightning Rod procs and constant critical strikes while having a healthy amount of survivability.

Very good if you already have some experience staying alive.

I don’t link the full Zerker Orbital Strike build since I don’t play one. I’m sure someone else will but I guess you know the basics… Proper positioning and good teammates are critical since a thief can oneshot you…

I do know that movement speed rune sets exist… one with celestial stats and one with “bunker” stats. There is no offensive choice…

Pack gives you swiftness duration… Not the same…

+25% movement speed is not a boon like swiftness… It cannot be corrupted, cannot be stolen.

I still talk about roaming… Staff + Retreat with superior aria is a very BAD choice for roaming. How can a GS/Sw+F meditation guardian get any access to movement speed enhancement? Vitality runes? Yeah… Celestial runes… oh, yeah! Pack runes? No swiftness available at all to get the set’s bonus…

I still say these professions have serious problems in wvw roaming environment.. An offensive +25% movement speed rune set would help them.

Centaur is not a movement speed rune set. It gives you swiftness… Mesmers are using it because there is no offensive alternative of the +25% movement speed runes and it’s cheap!…

Ragnarox: I’m fine with these also…

for the posters: so do you REALLY think these professions have no problem with movement speed?

Baldrick:

Guardian: is using staff outside of combat for 50% swiftness uptime good? And you have to swap it before the engagement to your regular roaming weapon. If not you are doomed!

Necro: Locust: it is a viable choice but not optimal for anybody. What If I want to use a different utility? Change it every time I see red? If I change it I lost the +25% so I have no chance to follow-chase the enemy… If the foe jumps on me I have no chance to swap the signet to something useful…

Mesmer: I’m not sure what you mean… Signet of Inspiration? All of the mentioned professions use Traveller now… Heck, that’s why I posted this.

I still think we need an offensive movement speed rune set.

Edited my post…

X T D : you are right, swapping traits on the fly is a viable option… for necros… But the only way Guardians and Mesmers can have the same is swapping an entire armour set on the fly….

And once you unslotted your sigil until you stay in combat your movement speed stays the same. And I think it’s not optimal. This is why we have so many complain in the profession forums about mobility.

EDIT: removed smilies

Spurnshadow: +1

We need a wvw forum communicator. This is the minimum. The very minimum…

I play this game ONLY because of the WvW system.

If ANET would ask the community to donate some founds to employ some more dev’s, spending more time and money to CARE about wvw I would be the first to pay. (like a kickstart…)

Hey! Every server deserves a dev! To talk about problems, solutions, watch the guys playing, etc…

But they don’t…

And I don’t know why? WvW players are a big part of the game and this game mode “is the unique feature of the GuildWars2”

Since Allie is gone…. nobody cares of us!

/sadface

I think they could add some more “food for the eyes” but the wvw is not about graphics.

My computer isn’t bad but I like to play with low-medium settings… I don’t care about flowers and birds and butterflies! I want to see the animation of the enemy as fast as my network lets me!

You cannot dodge a RideTheLightning if you are staring at clouds or nice fireflies around you

As for changing the maps:

They are identical for a reason… You have to know one map and you know all the three. So if you fight on blue then hopping to red you can take the same route, use the same shortcuts and flash-teleport to the same place (or not).

If they change the maps they have to make them absolutely different. Like jungle-desert-arctic. Or whatever…

Hi fellow WvWvW-ers!

As far as I know a few professions are struggling to get decent out of combat movement speed and because of this they get little options if building for roaming.

Currently Guardians, Necromancers and Mesmers come to mind. Their access to +33% swiftness is either bound to a weapon or a class mechanic:

Guardian: staff, shouts
Necromancer: Warhorn, , Spectral Wall, traited DS
Mesmer: focus and can apply it randomly

The access to permanent +25% speed is even more limited:

Guardian: none
Necromancer: Quickening Thirst (dagger/dagger), Signet of Locust and traited DS
Mesmer: Compounding Celerity (+10% for each active Illusion while in combat)

Apart of these weapons and skills the only option to get Swiftness/speed is via runes.

Currently we have two rune sets granting +25% speed bonus:

Traveller: celestial stats and boon duration
Speed: defensive stats and swiftness duration

So there is no offensive rune choice what is linked with +25% movement!

Easy solution: make one!

My suggestion:

Superior Runes of the Stubborn:

1, +25 power
2, +20% regeneration duration
3, +50 power
4, 25% chance when struck to grant nearby allies Regeneration for 5 sec (cooldown 15 seconds)
5, +100 power
6, +25% movement speed

The idea behind this suggestion:
#1: there is no movement speed rune set what grants offensive stats
#2: these rune set must not provide superior bonuses like Fury, Protection, Stability or Might to keep the more defensive rune choices in balance.
#3: Regeneration is arguably the weakest of the boons that’s why I suggest this. It is however a nice addition to sustain when roaming or group-fighting.

What do you Girls/Guys think?

Do you believe that a 3th option to get Movement Speed while staying offensive would solve these professions mobility problem in roaming?

EDIT: added the Signet of Locust

I like the no-white-sword idea…

it does not affect the roamers…

it helps the small 5-20 groups…

it slows down the blobbers…

And… meanwhile playing WvW this event gave me more fun than the whole spring tournament awhile… (I won’t mention the autumn one…)

My 2 cents

I don’t even know what colour is the top spawn point… sorry… :S

I did like it!

Getting hills or keeps were way out of my guild’s target ever… Without the swords our 10-20 large team could basically get everything but Garrison. Also a scout became more important…

Before the event: “There is a defender, so he gonna use an AC, AoE it down quickly, white swords were spawning so everybody knows where we are…”

In the event: "There is a scout so be aware… we gonna have a blob on us… so attack for 2 minutes than WP back… their slow zerk just coming to defend, so we can take bay…)

I did like this

Only a WvW player sits down for an hour to explain the gear choices to somebody… A pve player says: full zerk or GTFO…

I did not take you as a troll…. But EotM is lacking of…

basically everthing…

It’s a Karma train for pve people. Hell… if I would need Karma I’d go there. It pays the bills too…

Just please: don’t get kittened off because the lack of players or commanders…

The commanders are leading the Desolation on the real WvW maps…

Deso is fighting against SFR, Kodash, JadeSea, Shiverpeaks and Gandara (respect for all of them…!)
The borderlands are usually busy at maintime. But I know a few good commanders to regularly tag-up on EotM… (khm, Petricca…khm…).

And please do not forget the Megaserver thingy…

Oh and you have to know something… Green wins 95% of the time so if Deso is not this colour you pretty much lost already.

Anyways, EotM is for PvE-ers (and maybe wvw players who want to level a toon…). Come and join the fight!

See ya’ on the Borderlands!

I wish JI and MI (and sword Flashing Blade) were ground-targeted skills…. That’s all

It’s not about cheap it’s about cheese…

The OP and many other girl/guy want to be a face of a campaign. If they avoid using very expensive runes/sigils they send a message: “Hey you poor folk! You can do it too! It’s not about money it’s skill!”

Using expensive sets in videos… “Hey this guy is carried by his/her gear…”

That’s why I suggested to change the runes to something else… Building the community if you like

Well, the mace is a very defensive weapon so you cannot really swap scepter or sword and call it a day. Sword has mobility, a blind every 10 seconds and a selfroot reflect but that’s it. BTW It has the highest damage of the one-handed weapons.

Scepter however has an immobilize on a 20 sec CD and a nice AoE. But the autos are slow and weak. The good thing: you can cast Smite, swap to GS, GS2, judge’s intervention in, smite condition and somebody is likely to die…

I think any of them would work but not as main weapons. They are either for range and CC or mobility and damage.

Hi Hattoni!

Give a try to this build:

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fVQQJARSlsApaotCxcI8DNRDBlZ8vPmXIDXfgEEAA-TVCIwAAeCAdU/JoSjlKB5pMTwFAIiugCHCAW7PQKAmUGB-w

instead of Smite you can take Mercyful Intervention. Your thief in stealth or your necro gonna LOVE you.

Your GS5 and Hammer3 and 5 can help you to peel for the party. You are tanky with 3k armour and 20k HP. You can give Stability to your party every 24 sec for 6 seconds. You have AoE condi cleanse (3) and decent self healing ability. All your GS skills are AoE and your Hammer2 hits like a truck (ok… like a van…)
.

I think this is a good midway build….

My wvw PVT armour D/D (note: I do not do any dungeons or fractals…) and zerker accessories do wonders in Silverwastes. Lightning Rod build with Evasive Arcana and a slotted ArcanePower… You can just melt Mordrem while keeping some survivability.

And the good thing: with a single change to BlastingStaff you are a nice offensive support with Staff in a large scale battle.

Zelyhn Lekovitch:

You just hurt my wvw PVT/Zerk D/D elementalists feeling…

OP: really I don’t get this… if you charge in your team/zerg not only looses a player… It looses an Elemetalist!

What’s the point of dying? Stay alive! If you die you probably rally the half of the other zerg…

As a D/D ele you can get in, wreck havock and get out. But you need stability. Your (not sloted) Armour of Earth won’t be enough anyways so ask some Guardians to help you out!

If your aim is the frontline: 5-10 gua-warri will down you before you get out of the RideTheLightning animation…

If your aim is the backline: you must not dye! Kill them and then support your team with auras, CC, firefield… Ask for a thief-ranged ele-ranger-engineer to help you out… Your melee burst and CC with their ranged burst and CC is deadly for a single target backliner…

Just my 2 cents…

Great video again Holl!

Killing uplevelled is not fun! Killing uplevelled in a funny way IS fun

Oh, and some criticism:

please…

get rid of the Perplexity Runes (and avoid the Strength Runes too). You have lots of skill and you don’t want the normal-forum-guy saying: “You are carried by those expensive OP runes…!!!44!!!four!”

Oh, and if you meet a bronze invader asura guardian (Deso/RESO) can you /salute over my corpse?

Thanks!

If you don’t want to spend money on your guard than do not bother with the gear. Grab whatever you can. Karma gear, level-up reward, trashdrop, 2 silver thingy from TP… Does not matter… Stat priority: (damage on weapon)/power/precision/vitality=toughness/ferocity… Other stats have basically zero value (you need a lot of condition damage to make it work…)

Use GS/Sword+focus for fast moving but always have a scepter and a staff handy for group events and for veterans/elites/champions. Always have one weapon equipped with Sigil of Bloodlust (even if minor).

For utilities I would go with Retreat! (for running…), Smite Conditions (extra damage and after the fight it removes annoying conditions like cripple and poison), and either Bane Signet (power is always good), Judge’s Intervention (for flashing around the map) or Save Yourselves! (get the superior aria trait if you run 2 shouts or the meditation mastery if you have two meditation utilities)

Traits (2 in valor or honor already)
Get the 3 point Radiance trait (Renewed Justice) and the 1 point minor in Virtues (Inspired Virtue). Every time you kill a foe your F1 CD resets so you can cast it again for Might and Burn.
These should give you nice killing power and plenty of survivability.

Hope these help!

Happy Guardin’!

My build is similar to Holl’s but with a bit of twist!

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?fVQQJARSlsApaotCxcI8DNRDBlZ8vPmXIDXfgEEAA-TVCIwAAeCAdU/JoSjlKB5pMTwFAIiugCHCAW7PQKAmUGB-w

This is the solo version. For group/zerg support use different sigils than Hydro (pretty obvious…) and change the Master Honor to Empowering Might and the Valor Grandmaster to Altruistic Healing (well, you can keep the Monk’s Focus if you want but in a group situation you wanna stick with the melee and buff them… that’s why AH is better here…)

Cheshirefox: trash all the builds you call everything but offensive… that’s the standard BUNKER. I don’t say it’s crap but it’s far-far from offensive. It’s actually the defensive build :P Your job is to stay alive and lay down fields…. And I’m telling you a staff ele in full soldier armour and a set of 50-50 knight-zerker does a great job here…

Stability (StandYourGround!, Hollowed Ground, traited Virtue of Courage…) prevents the enemy to fear/launch/knockback/pull you. Condition cleanse abilities like Purity trait, Smite Conditions, Contemplation of Purity, Purging Flames, traited Virtue of Resolve and -40% condition duration food can get rid of Immobilise, Cripple, Chill.

Guardian is all about defending the group they are the part of. That role includes beating the brown thing out of everybody who gets too close. It is one of the best support profession in wvw. Condition removal, stability, on-demand Aegis, reflect, heal, might, swiftness. Almost every weapon setup (sword-focus excluded) has hard CC like immobilise, ward or knockback. The more selfish builds can dish out a lot of damage while still having access to some support skills.

Not counting the unfamous shield the guardian weapons are well rounded and all of them has it’s role.

I don’t do dungeons but my guild does. Guardians are always welcome there.

Trust me OP I had the same feeling about my newly levelled guardian. It’s basically my main now in WvW.

Maybe something like this:

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fFEQFAWhcMKc24wzBr0ANAGphg4CQAIGWOL0EmCA-TFDBABGpMIH1fmVJoSKRWSJkCmLA4BA0iOgi2fghLAwDm0QSpBZAyHDA-w

Add some might and bloodlust stack and you will see…

You know for more than a year I only used “mainstream” builds. Get to the forums or metabattle, ctrl+c, ctrl+v and smile ’cos I was great. Screw that!

Sometimes it’s good to feel like a rebel teenager. Run out of the house (the melee-train) do some trouble and when daddy calls me (the commander) I run/leap back to the line and act as a good child for a bit (like pressing 1)

And as I see every profession forums have some kind of pioneers now. Playing non-meta (not the most effective, non-mainstream) builds and spreading the words: “You don’t have to play one of the 2-3 builds you get from the internet! Play as you like!”

And honestly I like this so much! If I wouldn’t like the customisation this game offers I might play a different MMO called… you know…

It’s a wvw build and I use my Meditations offensively. I have Meditation Mastery and Focused Mind to be more offensive. I don’t need monk’s focus. 2000 heal every 16 and 36 seconds won’t save my life. Altruistic Healing and Empowering Might with virtue spam if needed give enough sustain. I have symbols too and Absolute Resolution also helps. And I can blast and leap water fields like a boss.

I’m not saying it’s a “meta” build but it works just fine for me. It’s not a frontliner and not a DPS medi guard. It’s a midline choice.

Detto!

I run a similar setup since Holl first video. I change the traits every now and then. Currently: 00644 with AHEM and stability or condiclean on virtue. Still got 2 meditations on my bar namely JI and Smite plus I have the so-needed SYG.

It’s a hell of fun build to play. Bit squishy for a true frontliner (-4000 HP means a lot…) but the ability to jump out from the line then hit a pesky ranger’s or thief’s idiot face with a big hammer a few times with 10+ might and fury and than do some CC and clean up or get back to the line is priceless

Yes! (15char)